Albany’s Latest Scandal: 2 More Are Accused of Corruption

ALBANY — A Republican state senator from the Niagara Falls area and his predecessor pleaded not guilty on Thursday in a pair of schemes involving payments to a spouse and a former aide, the latest in a long line of corruption cases to emanate from New York State’s capital.

The senator, Robert G. Ortt, accused of being part of a plot to pad his own income by using a no-show job for his wife, was arraigned in the Albany County courtroom of Judge Peter Lynch. Mr. Ortt succeeded George D. Maziarz, a Republican who retired in 2014, who was also arraigned on Thursday on five felony counts of filing false campaign expenditure reports. Those reports were part of an illicit plan to funnel — and hide — nearly $100,000 in payments to a former aide who had left his job with Mr. Maziarz under the cloud of sexual harassment charges, according to the state attorney general Eric T. Schneiderman.

In a remarks to reporters shortly after his arraignment, Mr. Ortt, 37, blamed his legal woes solely on Mr. Schneiderman who is a Democrat and who brought the case. Mr. Ortt, defiant, said he was “saddened and sickened” by charges he described as a political hit job.

“I have no doubt that the only reason I am involved in this case, that I was part of this investigation, is to make it more politically appealing and to further Eric Schneiderman’s partisan agenda,” Mr. Ortt said. “My constituents in the 62d District know me, they know what kind of person I am, and they know what kind of public servant I have been. I am guilty of nothing.”

The allegations against Mr. Ortt involve actions taken while he was serving as the mayor of North Tonawanda, north of Buffalo, from 2010 to 2014.

Specifically, the attorney general alleges that Mr. Ortt wanted to make up a $5,000 reduction in salary from his previous job as town clerk and treasurer and so arranged a deal for his wife, Meghan Ortt, a graphic designer, to be paid for more than $20,000 over four years for work she did not actually do, with that income falsely reported as payments to a “pass-through entity.”

In a statement, Mr. Schneiderman blasted Mr. Ortt and called his alleged activities “a shameful breach of the public trust.”

“No show jobs and secret payments are the lifeblood of public corruption,” he said. “New Yorkers deserve full and honest disclosures by their elected officials — not the graft and shadowy payments uncovered by our investigation.”

Mr. Ortt said he would not resign, but the indictment nevertheless raised the issue of the balance of power in the State Senate, where Republicans hold a slim majority thanks only to a power-sharing agreement with a group of breakaway Democrats.

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George D. Maziarz, a retired New York state senator, in 2011.CreditMike Groll/Associated Press

Mr. Ortt faces three felony counts of offering a false instrument for filing; Mr. Maziarz, 63, faces similar charges. He declined to comment after his arraignment, but Joseph M. LaTona, a lawyer for Mr. Maziarz, said he “looks forward to being vindicated in the courts.”

Stephen R. Coffey, a lawyer for Mr. Ortt, said that the charges against his client apparently stem from documents filed by the Niagara County Republican Committee that omitted payments to Mr. Ortt’s wife by a Niagara County marketing firm.

“He didn’t sign that document, he didn’t author the document, he didn’t read the document, he wasn’t aware of that document,” Mr. Coffey said of Mr. Ortt’s involvement, echoing his client’s charges of a political attack. “Schneiderman’s office knows this.”

According to Mr. Coffey and The Buffalo News, which reported the indictments late Wednesday, Mr. Ortt had appeared earlier on Wednesday before the grand jury that has been investigating the Niagara County Republican Committee and Mr. Maziarz. On Thursday, Mr. Schneiderman’s office also announced the guilty plea of Henry Wojtaszek, a former chairman of the Niagara County Republican Committee, on a misdemeanor charge of violating state election law. The Niagara Gazette had previously reported that Ms. Ortt, and other associates of Mr. Maziarz, had been called to testify before the grand jury.

The news of the indictments was sadly familiar for Albany observers who have watched a parade of public officials face corruption and other criminal charges. In 2015, two of the state’s most powerful men — the speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, a Democrat from Manhattan, and the Senate majority leader, Dean G. Skelos, a Long Island Republican — were convicted of federal corruption charges. Last fall, several close associates of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, were indicted as well; trials could start later this year.

Mr. Schneiderman, elected to a second term in 2014, has brought previous corruption charges against Albany politicians, including Democrats like former Senator Shirley Huntley. On Thursday morning, reaction to the indictments had already begun to spread through the Capitol.

“Once again this highlights the need for real ethics reforms, something the Senate Democrats have been calling on for years, and really shows the absurdity that there has been no talk in this budget process of cleaning up Albany and passing the strong ethics reforms,” said Mike Murphy, a spokesman for the Senate Democratic Conference, a 23-member group which is in the minority.

In remarks to reporters, the Senate majority leader, John J. Flanagan, a Republican from Long Island, said that he had “great faith in Rob Ortt,” calling him a friend and “good colleague.”

“I’m going to continue to work with Rob,” he said. “I’m sure he’s going to be back here next week.”

Mr. Ortt, a military veteran who received a Bronze Star for his service in the Army, seemed combative at the prospect of his day in court.

“I will fight these charges,” he said on Thursday.“And I believe I will prevail.”

Lisa W. Foderaro contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A21 of the New York edition with the headline: Republican State Senator and His Predecessor Are Accused of Corruption. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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